1. Field of the Invention
The inventions lies in the field of moulding and is particularly but not exclusively concerned with the moulding of an article in synthetic resin material, with or without a reinforcement structure, for example fibre reinforcement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
United Kingdom Patent Specification GB 1 432 333 discloses a method of moulding an article, the method having the step of applying a vacuum to a cavity defined between separate male and female mould parts having sealing means therebetween, the cavity containing a hardenable liquid moulding material, thereby drawing the mould parts together with relative movement thereof at at the sealing means, and causing the moulding material to flow in the cavity into the shape of the article to be moulded.
The specification referred to also discloses a mould for moulding an article, the mould comprising a male and female mould part shaped to be assembled to define a cavity therebetween, a seal for sealing the cavity against atmosphere, and an aperture in one of the mould parts for application of a vacuum to the cavity, the mould parts and the seal being arranged to permit drawing of the mould parts together with relative movement thereof at the seal, and flow of hardenable liquid mould material in the cavity into the shape of the article to be moulded, in response to the application of the vacuum to the cavity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a moulding method whereby a finish coating of a moulded article can be applied to the article in the course of the moulding operation.
It is a further object to provide a moulding method whereby an outer paint or lacquer layer of a moulded article is applied to a mould wall and is subsequently incorporated into the moulded article as a surface layer.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a moulding method whereby a layer destined to be a surface layer of a moulded article is partially cured in a mould cavity prior to addition of further mouldable material and further curing of the partially-cured layer.